Digital Smarts - How Do Parents Feel About Student Data Use and Privacy Protection

New data from a Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) survey reveals a majority of parents support using student data to inform educational practices, but they remain concerned about student data privacy and security issues in schools. Seventy-one percent of surveyed parents said their child uses school-provided technology, and 58 percent said they have used school-related technology. Three-quarters (76 percent) of those surveyed said they understand the data being collected and how it is used.

Most surveyed parents said they are comfortable with schools using student data to target teaching and learning improvements such as grades (97 percent), attendance records (94 percent), special-needs status (91 percent), and standardized test scores (88 percent). Despite those high comfort levels, parents in the survey said they also want to know why school administrators need this data, and they’d like to know the educational benefits associated with data collection and use. “Parent’s are one of the most important stakeholders in the discussions around using student data to improve classroom education,” said Future Privacy Forum Executive Director Jules Polonetsky. “Yet, not near enough work has been done to bring parents into the conversation. This survey is an important first step.”